JivoChat vs tawk.to (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick tawk.to: it is third in our ranking of help desk and live chat tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.6.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
JivoChat grades higher on platforms. tawk.to grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
JivoChat
Live chat and messenger inbox with a free plan and paid add-on modules
tawk.to
Free live chat, ticketing and help center, with paid add-ons
Which one is for you
Pick JivoChat if
- Fits if you want live chat on a site with Telegram, Instagram or Viber in the same app
- Works for a small site that wants desktop and phone apps without paying
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need ticketing or a knowledge base, as the listing shows neither
- Tight if you need old chats: the free plan keeps 2 months
- Pricey if you add on, with WhatsApp at $27, Videocalls at $23 per agent and the AI Agent at $69 per agent a month
- Watch out: the pricing page says the free plan covers 5 agents in one place and 2 in its comparison table
- Watch out: only annual prices are shown
Pick tawk.to if
- Fits if you want chat on your site and don't want to pay per seat
- Works for anyone who'd rather hire someone to answer chats, at $1 an hour
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if the "Powered by tawk.to" badge bothers you, as removing it costs $29 a month per site
- Watch out: AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month
- Not for you if you need phone support, as voice agents (from $49 a month plus usage) were still waitlist-only
- Too light for teams that need lots of integrations, with only Shopify and WordPress listed and no API
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAJivoChatGood | 3.0GPAtawk.toVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$28 per agent a month billed annually is in the middle of the category's $19 to $39 range. Add-ons stack up: WhatsApp $27, AI assistant $13, Videocalls $23 per agent and AI Agent $69 per agent. | AThe whole platform is free, chat, inbox, tickets, help center and CRM, with no seat charges, which is free and substantial. You'd pay only for add-ons: $29 a month for the AI agent or for removing the badge. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with live chat on unlimited sites, social channels, callback, offline forms and the apps, which one small site could live on. Chat history is kept for only 2 months. | AFree outright for every seat, with no cap on chats in the listing. The catch is the "Powered by tawk.to" badge on your widget, chat page and help center, which costs $29 a month per site to remove. |
| Features | CChat with several social channels, callback and a CRM from Basic. The listing shows no ticketing or help center, so it does the chat job and a smaller one. | CWebsite chat, chat pages for businesses without a site, an inbox for chat, email and forms, tickets, a help center, a CRM, and people you can hire to answer for $1 an hour. The gap: no phone, as voice agents were still waitlist-only. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and chat rules, channels and add-ons need setting up. | CNo store rating on record. It's free to start, but you still paste the chat box into your site, set up the help center and, if you want it, teach the AI agent. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android apps, a Chat API on Enterprise and a list of integrations. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps, so every device is covered. What keeps it off an A is the connections: the listing names just Shopify and WordPress, and no API. |
| Best for | free live chat for a website | free website chat for any size of team |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: JivoChat and tawk.to. How we grade
Price against what you get
JivoChat starts at $28 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. tawk.to starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
JivoChat scores higher and starts $1 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 3 score higher than JivoChat for less, and 16 score higher than tawk.to for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- JivoChat also covers shared inbox, whatsApp messaging and chatbots.
- tawk.to also covers help desk and help center.
At a glance
| JivoChat | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $28 per agent / month, billed annually | $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on |
| Free plan | Website live chat, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram and Viber channels, callback, offline forms and the desktop, mobile and browser apps. | The whole platform is free: live chat, inbox, ticketing, knowledge base, chat pages and CRM, with no seat charges. A "Powered by tawk.to" badge stays unless removed for a fee. |
| Free trial | 14-day trial of the paid features | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | JivoChat | tawk.to |
| Price read from | jivochat.com | tawk.to |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
JivoChat
- The free plan keeps chat history for 2 months; paid plans keep it without a limit.
- WhatsApp is $27/month, AI assistant $13, Videocalls $23 per agent and AI Agent $69 per agent, all billed annually.
- The pricing page says the free plan covers 5 agents in one place and up to 2 agents in its comparison table.
- Prices are quoted per agent and billed annually; the page does not show monthly-billing prices.
tawk.to
- Removing the "Powered by tawk.to" badge from the widget, chat page and knowledge base costs $29 a month per property.
- AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month.
- Hired chat agents cost $1 an hour and dedicated virtual assistants from $7 an hour.
- Voice Agents (from $49 a month plus usage) and Data Enrichment (from $59 a month) were waitlist-only when read.
Key features
JivoChat
- Website live chat
- A customizable chat widget in 25 languages that can go on unlimited websites, with file transfer and offline contact forms.
- Messenger channels
- Telegram, Facebook, Instagram and Viber conversations arrive in the same app as website chats; WhatsApp is a paid module.
- Visitor monitoring and invitations
- From Basic up, agents see who is on the site in real time and can start chats with triggers and pre-chat buttons.
- Chatbots and chat rescue
- Professional adds chatbot integration and a chat rescue feature; Enterprise adds routing between agents.
- AI Agent and AI assistant
- An AI Agent answers frequently asked questions automatically, and a separate AI assistant helps agents write replies. Both are paid add-ons.
- Apps on every device
- Native apps for Windows, Mac and Linux plus mobile apps, so agents can reply away from a browser.
tawk.to
- Live chat widget
- A chat box for websites that can be styled to match a brand, plus chat pages that turn a link into a conversation for businesses without a site.
- Inbox and ticketing
- Chat, email, form and messaging conversations arrive in one dashboard, with free ticketing for issues that need follow-up.
- Knowledge base
- A free hosted help center where customers can look up answers, which the AI Assist add-on also draws on.
- AI Assist
- AI agents and workflows that answer routine questions and hand off to a person with the conversation's history attached.
- Hired chat agents
- Trained human agents who answer chats on your behalf around the clock for $1 an hour, offered as a paid service.
- CRM and pipeline
- Contact records built from conversations, segments and tags, a deal pipeline and booking activities in the same dashboard.
Plans
JivoChat
Free$0
Live chat on unlimited sites with social channels, callback and offline forms. Chat history is kept for 2 months.
Basic$28
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds proactive invitations, real-time visitor monitoring, anti-spam protection, the built-in CRM and up to 100 agents.
Professional$42
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds the Telephony Plus module, chatbot integration, chat rescue and voice messages on Telegram, Instagram and Facebook.
Enterprise$56
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds chat routing, the Chat API, a mobile SDK and the video call module, with no cap on agents.
tawk.to
Free$0
Live chat widget, shared inbox, ticketing, a hosted knowledge base, chat pages and contacts, with the tawk.to badge shown. AI Assist has a free tier for limited volume.
AI Assist$29
per month and up
Add-on: AI agents that answer from your knowledge base and AI workflows that route and follow up, handing off to a person when needed.
Whitelabel$29
per property / month
Add-on: removes the tawk.to badge and puts the chat page, knowledge base and ticketing emails on your own domain and address.
Ways to pay less
JivoChat
- Annual discount
30% off with yearly payment
The plan calculator on the pricing page lists a 30% discount for paying 1 year up front and 10% for 3 months.
tawk.to
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, JivoChat or tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, JivoChat starts at $28 per agent / month, billed annually, and tawk.to starts at $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, JivoChat or tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both JivoChat and tawk.to have a free plan.
Which platforms do JivoChat and tawk.to run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only JivoChat lists a Linux app. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.